Recent reports of September’s existing-home-sales surge has me thinking of post-recession changes likely to hit downtown’s food scene.Upmarket housing awaiting occupants and more units coming this way are sure to attract seasoned palates wanting exceptional fare. They’ll lure top chefs, forcing the city’s dining establishment to rise from its cozy laurels.Perhaps, then, downtown perennial Deluxe was lucky to suffer an abrupt shakeup in late September, when chef Keith Rhodes left after seven years at the restaurant’s stoves. Suddenly, Trinity Hunt went from Rhodes’ sous chef to heading one of Wilmington’s most cherished kitchens.“People say that I’ve got big shoes to fill,” Hunt tells me. “Personally, I don’t think I have any shoes to fill; I have my own, and I walk my own path.”A month into his new post, Hunt’s matter-of-fact confidence is unyielding at what could be considered his culinary cotillion: Waterford’s Oct. 24 chowder cook-off. Here, Hunt’s cooking skills are not hidden behind Deluxe’s kitchen doors but displayed for hundreds of attendees to see.Unlike Rhodes, who steered Deluxe toward Asian flavors, Hunt favors the Mediterranean. Homemade chorizo and Spanish cream sherry scent his chowder. His Deluxe inductees include carne a la plancha, a seared, 7-ounce filet with veal demi-glace, fingerling potato/exotic mushroom hash and sherry-roasted red bell peppers and Bermuda onions. He rubs pork tenderloin with ground olive leaves, which Hunt says lend olive essence to the roasted meat. The swarthy Hunt, 31, could pass for a Spaniard, but the Lumbee was born in Baltimore and raised in Raleigh. Grandmother was a caterer and cafeteria director, Mom a restaurant co-owner. His kitchen career began with dish washing at age 16, but by 22, Hunt says, he was managing a Raleigh restaurant. A self-proclaimed artist, Hunt went on to open a tattoo parlor but couldn’t resist the artistic expression cooking provided. At 26, he sold the business to pay for culinary school at Charlotte’s Johnson and Wales. Four years ago, Hunt came to Wilmington, where he has spent most of his time working alongside Rhodes.Hunt speaks fondly of his former boss. “I told him I want to be known at Deluxe as you have been known.”Whether Hunt meets that goal remains to be seen, but his conviction is clear when a lost chowder cook-off attendee stumbles into Hunt’s tent. “Who are you?” the man asks. “I’m the executive chef at Deluxe,” Hunt unflinchingly replies. The stray’s eyebrows jump, and he leans in with fresh respect. “That’s a good restaurant.”